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Posted on
10/08/2009 11:41 AM EST
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What health insurance reform means to you
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Cecilia Muñoz
Health reform is very important for minorities in this country, especially Hispanics, African Americans, and others, because the probability that we lack access to insurance is twice that of others. Through a health insurance exchange, Americans and immigrants who are here legally will be able to choose between several health plans that are low cost and high quality, to decide what will work best for their families.
And for Hispanics who have health insurance already, it will provide the stability and security that isn’t there now. For example, we will prohibit discrimination against people due to pre-existing conditions, and we will also prohibit discrimination based on your medical history.
Health reform will also help small business owners, including minority owned small businesses, because those businesses pay 18% more than other businesses to provide coverage for their employees.
Health reform will also make it easier to identify disparities in the treatment of different groups to better eliminate those disparities.
Racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive preventive care. For example, a Vietnamese woman is half as likely to receive a pap smear compared to other women, and these women are twice as likely to suffer from cervical cancer than other women. Obesity rates are also high among minority groups. By ensuring that people can get access to preventive care, then we can ensure that health care will be more efficient and also less costly.
Health insurance reform will also expand the primary care workforce as well as use scholarships to increase diversity in health professions and we want to strengthen the system of safety-net hospitals and community centers to ensure access and quality of care.
I invite you to visit our website WhiteHouse.gov/LaRealidad. There you will find information on health reform, and also resources you can share. For example, there is an interactive questionnaire that you can use to input information about your current situation, to better understand exactly what health insurance reform means to you.
Cecilia Muñoz, serves as Director of Intergovernmental Relations at the White House.
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